Blood Rose (39 page)

The footman bowed. “The messenger came back, ma’am. He says he was instructed to return after one hour.”

Frowning, Serena took the small, wrapped package and dismissed the footman. Was her mother mad as well as undead?

Fingers trembling, she opened the velvet pouch and tipped it upside down, and a locket slid out into her palm. Gold and delicate, with a heart-shaped fob—it meant nothing to her. It had no significance. With her thumbnail she pried it open. A small square of paper fell out.

She unfolded the tiny scrap, reading it as she smoothed it.

When I gave birth to you, I knew that you would change tomorrow night—your 25th birthday.

Perhaps you have become vampire already, but what you do not know is that you will come into
your power tomorrow night, at the stroke of midnight. Without my help, you will perish. You must
know the secrets of allowing the power to come to you. I suspect you do not want to see me. You
must. You must come to me, and together we will help you embrace your new life.

Lukos believes he has the secret—he believes he will be the one to help you claim your power.

But there is much Lukos does not understand. He is one of the devil’s apprentices and a man—both
arrogant and foolish. I will not allow him to take you, Serena. But you must come to me.

Come to the village of Pemberton Hill. There is a mystical standing stone circle there. It is
there that you will find your destiny.

It was not signed, but Serena saw at once the handwriting was Lady Draycott’s—her mother’s.

Jonathon and Drake would never consent to this…

But if they were to share love, she must tell them of this. Nervously, she tugged the bellpull, then sent the servant to fetch them.

“Pemberton Hill,” she repeated as Jonathon reread the note. She’d read it aloud once, for Drake. “I’ve seen drawings, sketches, notations about Pemberton Hill in the Society’s library.

Pemberton Hill is near one of Lord Ashcroft’s estates, is it not?”

Jonathon nodded. “Yes. Ashcroft has studied that ring of stones since he was a boy. I spent time there, with my father.”

Drake laughed. A low, naughty laugh. “I heard that Ashcroft practiced sex rites there in his younger days. Hired buxom, talented prostitutes to perform perverse acts with him beneath the light of the moon.”

Jonathon linked his hands behind his back, paced. “To go to Ashcroft’s would be madness. He wants us destroyed. This is very likely a hoax.”

“And if it’s the truth, Serena could be in grave danger,” Drake reminded.

Serena shivered but felt a surge of enveloping warmth as Drake came up behind her and hugged her.

“Still, I believe we have to go,” Drake said.

“I want to go,” Serena insisted. “I need to know.”

Even as Drake hugged her, Jonathon walked up to her, rested his hands on her shoulders, and kissed the top of her head. “I know how much it means to you to know about your past. I promise I will be at your side to protect you, no matter what.”

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Aroused beyond compare, Althea twisted her wrists, trying to break free of the knots. Once again, Bastien had outdone himself. She was well and truly bound to the bed. Though she cast a glance down and had to bite back a giggle. With her ripe, round tummy, did she really present an erotic picture? Her breasts, full and plump, looked magnificent though, and her nipples were now long and full and a seductive berry-brown.

Bastien tied the last knot to the bedpost, then slid off the bed, obviously admiring his handiwork. She giggled as the baby squirmed in her belly, then gasped as Bastien selected a long, slender dildo from her vanity and strolled toward her. He licked the tip of it, and she trembled in anticipation—

The door swung open, and Yannick marched in, running his fingers through his hair.
Bastien,
you are supposed to be preparing to leave for the docks.

Sorry, brother, I became distracted while helping Althea pack her erotic toys.

That was not at all the truth, but Bastien shared a wink as Yannick groaned in frustration.

Join me, brother,
Bastien suggested, indicating her submissive position with a sweep of his hand. His golden hair hung around his shoulders. They were in the dark, only the soft shimmer of the moon painting his beautiful body.

Yannick, who should have been the voice of reason, shifted to his bat-form to shed his clothing.

But he paused at the edge of the bed. “Althea, I have to be honest with you—”

A confession? What had he been up to? Cavorting with another vampiress? After all, she was the size of a carriage right now. Though she knew he and Bastien would never stray…

“We are not going to the Carpathians—though we will make it appear that is our destination.

Instead, we are going to Italy. To a lovely home I have purchased near Venice.”

She tugged on her knots. “But my father is expecting us—I wished to see him.”

“It is not safe, love. Not now. Later, perhaps…”

She threw a desperate glance to Bastien, who nodded, the wretch, instead of coming to her rescue.

One last pull at her bonds only proved she was securely tied.
Oh! Bugger you both! You tied
me up to tell me this, didn’t you? It had nothing to do with sex! Cowards. I demand that you untie
me.

You do it,
Bastien urged, clapping a hand on Yannick’s shoulder.

But Yannick shook this head.
I’m the earl. I command you to do it.

How could you lie to me about this?
Althea roared. And she yanked so hard on the ropes that the bed shook and banged the floor.
How could you do this behind my back?

To protect you.
Yannick brushed the back of his hand against her cheek.

Althea took a deep breath and sighed as Yannick began to untie her feet.
I do not believe
Serena would do me any harm—

Bastien broke the rope at her left wrist with one fast tug.
No, but Ashcroft is a madman.

Althea wiggled her feet. Goodness, her ankles were swollen.
Ashcroft was always kind to me
when he visited the Carpathians. He brought me treats from England, treats I had long forgotten.

She held up her hand as both men protested.
I know. I am a vampiress and everything has
changed, but I want to be with my father. I have no intention of going to Italy.

We are going. Tonight,
Yannick vowed, arrogantly.
I am perfectly capable of kidnapping you
if I feel it is for your own good, and the good of our baby.

Althea fumed, rubbing her wrists.
Do it and I will never forgive you.

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It was All Hallow’s Eve.

Serena clutched her bonnet as Jonathon’s curricle raced along the road to Pemberton Hill. A brilliant whip, he urged his horses on a breakneck pace, deftly avoiding ruts in the road. Large, round, and silver, the moon hung over them. Another curricle raced ahead—Drake Swift, and he drove his team at mad speed.

“Do you think my mother exists?” She had to shout the question over the rattle of the wheels, the thunder of horses’ hooves. And then she remembered—she didn’t have to shout at all.
Do you
think she truly did write to me?

I don’t know, love.

In the back of both his carriage and Swift’s, trunks rattled. Trunks with crossbows, stakes, holy water…almost every weapon stored in Jonathon’s house.

I am not naïve,
she added, though her heart ached at what she would say.
Even if she is my
mother, why would she want me now? After five and twenty years? It is because I am of some
value to her, because of this magic power.
She sighed.
I don’t feel as though I possess magical
powers.

You are magical, sweetheart.
His smile warmed her to her toes, warding off the chill that seemed to run through her blood. His fangs flashed with the smile, reminding her of who they were.

Serena struggled to concentrate. Who was she really? Would her mother be there? Why lead them to Lord Ashcroft?

The moon followed as they charged onward. Jonathon kept a firm grip on the reins as he watched the road. Guilt nagged. Both he and Drake were here to protect her—what if they were attacked?

She couldn’t think of that. What if she was truly destined to possess magical powers? If so, she could use the power to stop Ashcroft from destroying her. To protect Drake and Jonathon.

Even to defeat Lukos.

Couldn’t she?

They crested a rise, and the valley spread before them. Serena gasped at the sight of Ashcroft’s mansion—it was below, the pale gray stone gleaming beneath the enormous white moon. The rippled surface of a lake sparkled, and patches of black woods spotted the rolling land. Moonlight slanted over, and she saw them, on a plateau halfway between their position and the house. The rings of stones.

There were vampire slayers who believed these sites to be the portals to hell.

Serena shivered and Jonathon slowed the horses. They caught up to Drake’s carriage, already stopped on the first stretch of level ground, but Serena stared down at the ring of stones, trying to see in the center. A white-clad figure seemed to be moving inside. Ashcroft? Or Lukos?

Jonathon’s arms slid around her.
Courage, Serena. I’d ask you to stay here, but I can’t know
you are safe unless I have you in my sight.
He drew out his pocket watch
. A quarter of eleven. We
haven’t much time.
He swung down from the curricle with one easy leap and jogged around to her side, gray greatcoat flapping around him.

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Jump down to me, sweetheart.

As Jonathon lowered her, his powerful hands at her waist, Serena saw Drake striding toward them, carrying two crossbows. His coat billowed behind him like wings. He handed her a weapon with a wink.
I remember, Serena, that you are a perfect shot.

She had proven that in Jonathon’s bedchamber.

She stood between them both—Jonathon so tall and broad, Drake so wildly brave and strong, and being part of the three gave her courage. But she knew her greatest strength must come from inside.

With Drake flanking her left side, Jonathon at her right, Serena found a worn path that led from the road, between rocks, to the cleared plateau. They moved in silence to a stand of trees, where the path narrowed and disappeared into darkness.

Jonathon took the lead, and Serena blinked, letting her eyes adjust, as they plunged into shadow.

Serena.

Shock and surprise gripped her heart at the sound of the husky, beautiful woman’s voice. She saw slight movements in the dark. The graceful wave of a slim hand. The ripple of a cloak tossed by the wind.

A woman stepped out from the shadows in front of Jonathon.

Her mother.

Jonathon pulled up short and stood with legs spread, crossbow resting at his side. She saw his obvious warning in the restrained power of his stance, in the way he was blocking the path between her mother and her.

Her mother held up her hand.
Do not go farther. Lukos waits there.
He believes I am bringing
you to him, but of course, that is not at all what I am going to do.

She heard her mother’s ethereal voice in her head, a sound as poignant and lovely as the song of a brook, the murmur of waves, the whisper of the breeze. From the abrupt way Jonathon straightened even more, the catch in Drake’s breathing behind her, she knew both men could hear her mother too.

Her mother drew the hood back, revealing her pale oval face.

Serena froze in surprise. At first, it was as though she had found a mirror in the woods. Her mother looked the same age as she and possessed the same blue-black hair, the exact arched black brows, the identical nose. But her mother was far more beautiful than she was. The mouth was large and perfect. The eyes ice cold.

Jonathon took a step closer to her mother, and he lifted his crossbow. “Who are—”

With a wave of her hand, her mother sent a wave of air that pushed his bow back down.

“Silence. I wish to speak to my daughter.”

Serena felt Drake move close behind her, protectively.

Mother?
Even as she spoke the word in thought, she looked at her mother’s face and had no idea what more to say. She searched helplessly for words. This was wrong. There was no delight on her mother’s face, no warmth, no happiness.

But…who are you?
Serena asked, and even in her thoughts, her words sounded full of tears.

Lady Draycott, my dear. An English lady.

But you are also a vampire? I—I thought you were mortal. I thought my father was a vampire.

He was not.
Her mother gave a wave of her hand, as though dismissing her father entirely.

Why—?
Serena took a deep breath.
Why did you abandon me?
It must have been for her protection. She wanted to believe it was to protect her from the Society. To save her life.

A proper lady would never be so blunt,
her mother admonished. A smirk touched her mother’s lips.
And I excel at behaving like a proper lady. But we haven’t time for decorum, have we? You
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wish to know why I discarded you.

Discarded! The word was like a knife to the heart. At once Serena understood why she had been foolish to give the past so much power. But she was determined to be strong.
Yes, why did
you discard me?

Jonathon stepped back to stand at her side, and Drake came forward, and she saw pain flicker in her mother’s shining eyes.

I had such power,
her mother said in thought.
Finally the power I deserved. And then I
became pregnant. It was madness. I am a demon. Demons do not bear children.